Minutes of the Sweden Planning Board Meeting

Town Meeting House

Thursday, September 13, 2007

1.     Chairperson Grace Keef called  the meeting to order at 7:00 PM.

PRESENT: Planning Board chairperson Grace Keef.

Planning Board members: Julie McQueen, Ron Kiesman, Wolfgang Duve

Alternate member Gayle Bartlett

CEO: Eric Gulbrandsen

Absent: Rob Slattery, Alternate John P. Smith

2.     There were no visitors.

3.     Julie read the meeting minutes from the July 12, 2007 meeting. Ron motioned to accept the minutes and Wolfgang seconded the motion.  The meeting minutes were unanimously approved. There was no August meeting.

4.     CEO Report. Eric read the CEO reports for July and August 2007. Ron motioned to accept the CEO report and Wolfgang seconded the motion. The CEO’s report was approved unanimously.

5.     Communication and bills.

A.    Correspondence Received (by date)

1.     A draft copy of the letter (4 pages) dated September 11, 2007 from the DEP (which will be sent to the Planning Board and the CEO after final signature) was received. It approves the amendments to the Zoning Ordinance adopted October 14, 2006 . Further changes as outlined in the letter will have to be made by July 1, 2008 in order to fully comply with the State of Maine Guidelines for Municipal Shoreland Zoning Ordinances (Guidelines) effective May 1, 2006. Our ordinance update was completed in April of 2006 prior to enactment of the new Shoreland Zoning Ordinance.  Julie will forward copies of the letter to the CEO and all members when the original is received.

B.    Correspondence Sent (by date)

1.     A letter dated July 19, 2007 was sent to the DEP transmitting Sweden’s Zoning and Land Use Ordinance adopted October 14, 2006.

2.     A letter dated August 12, 2007 from the Planning Board was sent to Pinkham and Greer with a final invoice for $96 to cover the cost of advertising in accordance with Section 8.1.C. of the Subdivision regulations. The applicant was not charged for any postal notification since they notified the abutters of the public hearings themselves.

6.     Old Business:

A.    There was some discussion regarding the draft letter received from the DEP. The Board will review the letter against the ordinance at the next meeting if time permits.

B.    The CEO will bring some sample language regarding the issue of charges for Building permits.

C.    Since Ron Kiesman (who handles the E-911 program for the Town and issues new addresses to be sure that new homes are in compliance with the program) will be unable to attend the next meeting, he will give Julie the language from the State requiring that more than one house on a driveway requires a road sign.

D.    Nathan Wadsworth (who is currently developing the Woodbury Hills Subdivision on Black Mtn. Rd) contacted Eric this past week regarding inspections. He is still waiting for the specifications from the Fire Chief regarding the fire tank fittings. The Board and the CEO assumed that this was all ironed out prior to approval by the Fire Chief and will look into making this a requirement in the subdivision regulations in the future.

E.     There was also discussion about road signs. The Board will look into clarifying that the subdivider is expected to install a road sign as part of the approval process for a new road in a subdivision. In the case of a private road; the creator of that road will also be required to provide signage in compliance with all Town and State regulations.

F.     Another issue that will be discussed is the possibility of changing the allowable length of a dock before a conditional use permit is required. At this time any dock larger that 4 ft. X 10 ft. requires a conditional use permit.

G.    Also should review Sweden’s Subdivision Regulations against the new Model Regulations from SMRPC. As we are using the new Subdivision Regulations; we are not seeing a need for many additional changes at this time. Changes to comply with the Comprehensive Plan that was approved in May of 2004 and new State Laws have already been incorporated.

7.     New Business:

A.    Eric has received an application for a conditional use permit from Michael Welsher and Lisa Deschenes for a proposed dock on Moose Pond at Map R27, Lot 31 in the Wildhaven subdivision. The Board will meet at the site at 6:30 PM on Thursday October 11, 2007 for a site walk. The Board will then meet at the Meeting House for the public hearing and their regularly scheduled meeting. Eric will put the notice in the paper and will send out the notice to abutters.

B.    Gayle no longer has an e-mail address at this time so we should not rely on reaching her via e-mail.

8.     Announcements:

A.    The Board will meet at the Moose Pond site at 6:30 on Thursday October 11,2007 and will then conduct their regular meeting at 7:00 PM At the Town Meeting House.

A motion was made by Ron to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Wolfgang, voted on and accepted.

Adjourned at 7:35 PM.